Heroes of a Fictional World
by Virgil of New Genesis
Summary: Hiro Sato, a child progeny who works for his grandfather, must find people willing to participate in what he terms as a "linked delusion". Based on the premise created by Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: There are a few things I wish to establish before I continue. First, to those of you who submitted a ranger, I apologize now for any drastic changes that I made to your character. I only did so to allow the story to flow better and keep the flow of the story smooth. Second, when I said that this story is based on the premise created in Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger (for more information, look it up on the Power Rangers wiki), I did not mean that it will be an American version of Akibaranger. Rather, it's a story inspired by Akibaranger, with the ranger abilities only being exerted in their imagination. **

**Chapter 1**

Rain beat down, hitting the windows of Garland High in Seattle as thunder gently clapped in the distance, echoed by the sound of a body being shoved against lockers.

"Fight back, ya wimp!" yelled one of the local skinheads, whom Hiro always referred to as Dick, as Hiro barely dodged a right jab from Dick's bulging muscles.

"Hey, aren't all Asians supposed to know karate or something?" asked one of the many teens who gathered around in a circle around Hiro and Dick as Hiro received a left hook in the gut.

"No… man," answered another teen, who was clearly stoned, "I think that's just a… stereotype." Hiro laid helpless to the onslaught that was to follow. "But… what do stereos have to do with it?"

By this time, Hiro's small body was in the fetal position on the ground as Dick lifted his black combat boot ready to stomp what he saw as a bug with his right foot. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, an arm wrapped around Dick's waist and forced him to the other wall.

A man with brown hair and grey eyes, with a height of about 6'3", stood where Dick once was, "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" mocked Zane as he helped Hiro up, "You might want to get out of here."

* * *

"You don't have to do that," declared Zane as Hiro and his girlfriend, Ellie, walked alongside him through the streets of western Seattle, "My face is… AAAGGGHH!" Ellie almost shoved the ice pack back onto his face as he yelped in pain. "What'd you do that for?"

"Yeh keep being an idiot," Ellie told him as she brushed the bangs of her blonde hair, pulled back in a ponytail back behind her ears, "Every time Hiro gets beat by those stupid skinheads, yeh've finished those fights."

"Someone's got to teach those guys a lesson." Zane lightly pressed the ice pack to his face, "Besides, you're beautiful when you're angry, and the accent only improves on that anger."

"You think you can? They keep using you as a punching bag." Ellie turned to face him directly, brushing off Zane's comment and attempting to suppress her Australian accent, "One of these days, you've got to realize that not all friends are worth taking a beating over…" She suddenly stopped as she realized Hiro could hear her. She turned around to apologize, but Hiro was already several meters ahead.

Zane, almost reading her mind, declared, "He's heading to Bainbridge Island. He has a workshop in the northern part of the island, you can't miss it." Ellie turned to her boyfriend and quickly kissed him before running after Hiro to apologize.

* * *

Today was his lucky day. Zero could feel the presence of Lady Luck in the air as he, with nimble fingers, swiped a wallet from an Asian kid. As soon as he was out of the kid's line of sight, Zero checked the wallet for any cash. He pulled his shaggy black hair back in disappointment by the sight of the proverbial butterfly flying out of the wallet. He quickly turned around to chase after the kid, yelling in his usual British accent, "Sir, you dropped your wallet!"

* * *

Ellie was in pursuit of Hiro as he walked across the bridge toward the island. Pulling the collar of her rain coat closer to her neck, she followed Hiro until he reached an abandoned warehouse. She opened the door to the warehouse and continued following him, waiting a few minutes before she used the lift to go down into the warehouse basement.

* * *

"_But Grandfather,_" declared Hiro, almost whining in Japanese as he nearly slammed his face on the keyboard of his laptop, "_We're still months, maybe even years away from being able to test the project for military application_."

"_I'm sorry, Hiro,_" Hikaru Sato, Hiro's grandfather and the richest man in Japan, sympathetically stated to his grandson in the same language as he readjusted his web cam, "_The Japanese and American military forces want to get their hands on this technology as soon as possible._"

"_It's not even finished, why did you have to tell them about it?_"

"_They were threatening to close down my projects, cut my funding,_" Hikaru paused, his dark blue suit wrinkled slightly as he leaned back slightly in his chair, "_Cut your funding._" Hiro placed his hand on his forehead, propping his elbow against the table.

"_Is there any way you can stall for more time?_" Hiro was desperate at this point, years of his life would be flushed down the proverbial drain if his grandfather wasn't able to get more time for his project. It would still take months before the project would be complete, and Hiro didn't need any military officials breathing down his neck.

"_I'll see what I can do, but I can't make any promises. You'll have to speed the project testing up somehow._" The web chat ended, leaving Hiro alone to ponder the implications of the news his grandfather gave him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I realize it's been a while since I last updated this story, and it may take as long to post the next chapter, but my schedule's been hectic. First, I'd like to say, to those whose Rangers appeared in the previous chapter and will appear in this one, thanks for submitting them. I hope you like them and I'm sorry if it seems as if I have betrayed the character. I only made the changes that I needed to in order to allow each character to fit into this world I have created. Some of the characters may change in characterization, or even name, but I hope you can still recognize them. Second, I'd like to emphasize the fact that this isn't a Power Rangers version of Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger, the Power Rangers do not exist in this world, as a real team or a television show. Third, to those of you who review, please don't just say that you liked the story or that you hated it. Give me specific feedback, let me know where I did wrong or what I did right. Those of you who are the type to criticize a story can help me improve the quality and, in turn, make the story more enjoyable for yourselves and everyone else.  
Please read and review.**

**Chapter 2**

"You sure about this, Ian?" asked Hiro as he attempted to rub the tiredness from his eyes and adjusted his headset to where it was more comfortable, "If you don't get this right, the test data will be ruined."

"I'll get it right this time," Ian's voice came over the headset.

Hiro stared at the computer monitors bound together by wires and PVC pipes, hoping for some sign of improvement. "You're stuck in Renaissance Venice until you can defeat the Parasini men."

"The last guy I fought was using a sword fighting technique that I wasn't familiar with," started Ian, brushing back his blonde hair as he walked on, "I've researched it and I'm sure I can beat him now." Hiro rubbed his eyes again as he watched Trent advance through the crowd that had gathered in the simulated town square of Venice, Italy.

"It's been weeks and we still haven't gotten any progress on what glitch is ruining the authenticity of this simulation."

"One of the men pulled out a… what did you call it?"

"A phaser, it's from _Star Trek_."

"Right, but how can you fix that?" By this time, Ian had already made his move, weaving his way through the Parasini thugs to help a defenseless man.

"That wasn't the problem, what happen was the men kept changing position all of a sudden, as if they were teleporting."

Ian was about to say something, but Hiro couldn't hear. As soon as Trent started focusing on the final man in the fight, Hiro was asleep.

* * *

Quickly slipping through the large sliding doors, Ellie began her search for Hiro in the hopes that he hadn't left. Immediately, she saw a group of about ten or twelve chairs and it was then that she realized her legs were sore from the long walk.

"Hello," she called, the words echoed through the large room. After looking around for a solid minute and finding only a locked door to the left of the entrance, she decided to sit down and wait for Hiro. Several hours passed and Ellie didn't catch a glimpse of Hiro.

_Where is he?_ she thought as she got back up to look around again. Another minute passed as she searched everywhere again. This time, the locked door was open, revealing a small, empty room with a door in the far right corner.

"Great," she grunted as she leaned her head against her forearm on the wall. As she stood back up, she checked the time, _8:28_. _How long was I sitting there?_ She raced out of the warehouse, hoping to get home before her dad would kill her.

* * *

"Namahage!" yelled Hiro as he jumped up, waking from his recurring nightmare. Wiping his sweat-beaten brow with his left hand, Hiro gazed at the monitors in front of him.

Hiro quickly raced out to the main room. A large, mostly empty area met him. Ten egg-shaped simulation pods were scattered across the room. All of them could easily fit a grown man inside; and three were closed. Hiro ran back into the control room, where the monitors were, and pressed the escape key on the keyboard. Nothing happened.

"Why didn't I install that failsafe?" he began, obviously beating himself up over a simple, yet fatal mistake. "Hello, can anyone hear me?" Hiro attempted communication, but to no avail. Whoever it was that was trapped in the simulation would have to... Hiro couldn't tell. The mission parameters monitor was blank. The simulation showed Seattle for some reason; Hiro had to hurry, to make sure whoever was in the simulator could find a way out. He began to search around for some way to affect the simulator. With luck, he found a programmer's hole, a place where he could make a few improvements to the sim.

Unfortunately, he was quickly running out of time. For those within the sim, with the fail safes disabled, it was either win, or die.


End file.
